


The Thirteenth Hour

by wonufu



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Fraud, Haunted Houses, Minor Injuries, Mystery, Plot Twists, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-04 06:10:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 11,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13358169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonufu/pseuds/wonufu
Summary: A Survival-Horror fic trapping the boys in a house, each situated in a different time.  The aim? Finish the tasks and escape.---A/N This is a fic I'm posting on Carat amino @Gyu (Neka) | Maki's Mine, if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join and search up my username





	1. Seungcheol

Seungcheol's running. He doesn't know what from, he doesn't know where to, but he's running.

All he remembers is going on a trip with his members, and then black. Only the sights of trees trying to drag him down as he escapes their grasps. He notices something he didn't see before, a bracelet on his left wrist with a charm on it, a key. He calms down for a second, the endless taunting of the trees calming down enough for him to hear shouts. It's coming from in front of him, about north west of where he's facing. It's them, he can hear his members shouting for him. He starts running, cutting and strangling through the forest, until he sees a light. Without thinking, he runs towards it.

He enters the well lit house, not bothering to check who owns it as he kicks open the door. As soon as he steps in though, the door slams behind him, making him jump and turn around. The lights go out and Seungcheol's left in the dark, alone, and without the cries of his members to help him.

Suddenly he hears a static noise, followed by a deep voice.

**Seungcheol, Welcome.**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 1st hour**

**The task is Leadership**

**Good Luck**

Good luck with what? Seungcheol doesn't know what he's doing, but he definitely knows his members are here somewhere. He frantically runs around, looking for a light switch. He finds one, but to his dismay it doesn't work. He'll have to go in the dark.

He walks around, calling for his members, but he can't find them. He can't hear. And then suddenly, he can. He can hear screams coming from upstairs, so he fumbles his way out, hitting himself against walls, tripping over his own feet until he finds the stairs, to which he climbs up as fast as he can. He falls a lot on the stairs, but he gets up there and immediately shoves himself onto the door which seems to have the screaming members in it. It doesn't open at first, so he tries harder, getting as much of a run up as he can. This time, it opens, and he hears three gasps of shock.

Two of them asks who's there, the other walks up to Seungcheol. In the faint moonlight, Seungcheol sees Jun's face, and silently thanks the heavens. Soonyoung also steps out, pulling minghao along, and they all breathe sighs of relief. He asks if they're alright and they all nod, frightened, but alright. However the break does not last for long, as there's more screams. More and more, filling up the entire house.

It haunts the four boys, all of their faces pulled taught as they have to listen to the screams of the members. Seungcheol knows he can't find them all by himself, so he tells the other three to split up, find them and meet at the front.

Seungcheol takes the upper left half of the house. He can hear the screams echoing, as if they're broadcasted on a PA system. It's misleading him, he's opened two doors by ramming into them, only to come up empty. There's one last door on his part of the house, so he tiredly approaches it. He prepares himself to ram into it, the only way the previous doors have been opening. The door opens but he doesn't see in before falling to the ground, tired from exhaustion and fright and about to give up. That's when he sees two figures in the corner. Wonwoo and Jihoon rush up to him, noticing him immediately, and the three go downstairs where they see a bunch of shadowy figures, to Seungcheol's relief. The screams stop echoing and the boys all group together, Seungcheol asking who's been found.

Soonyoung says he found Mingyu and Joshua, Jun says he found Jeonghan and Seungkwan, Minghao saying he found Vernon and Chan. 10… 11… that's 12. Someone else is still missing.

"Where's Seok-"

Suddenly, the house shakes, and the boys are all thrashed to the floor. When the house stops, Seungcheol sees the lights on again, however he's alone. All his member have disappeared.

Suddenly, from a far away place in the house he hears a scream. Minghao.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next member is Minghao. The object is a door. You have a choice of Glass, Plastic or Wood.  
> Glass - worst for injuries, best for time  
> Plastic - worst for shield, best for injuries  
> Wood - worst for time, best for shield
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Sunday 14th Jan 2018 KST


	2. Minghao

All he remembers is being with his members, then the house thrashing about before he's lying down in a hallway. The hallway dimly lit, pointing out to stretches on both sides, but it seems there's no end.

Suddenly, he hears a voice surround the house.

**Minghao, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 8th hour**

**The task is Devotion**

**Good Luck**

That's when he hears an ear piercing scream he knows all too well. Jun.

He's running, as fast as his legs can take him because that hallway is endless, but the faster he runs, the more endless it seems to get. He runs faster, but the same effect to no avail, the house is stretching before Minghao's very eyes and he can't stop it, only run faster.

He runs for what seems forever, Jun's screaming still ringing in his ears, however getting fainter the more he runs. Oh no. Did he run the wrong way? Despite Minghao's choppy breath and tiring legs, he sprints the other way. He finds motivation in trying to save Jun, if someone is torturing Jun or even touching him, he needs to be there. He needs to stop them hurting him. He's running faster, but it seems to have the same effect as before, and the screaming is getting even fainter. As minghao runs, the screaming is getting fainter. That's when he stops.

He stops running and sees what happens. Slowly, but surely, the hallway on both sides starts to shrink, the screaming gets louder and Minghao gets closer. He's about to walk, but as soon as he takes a step, the hallway stops shrinking. He has to stand there, listening to his best friends screams get closer as he does nothing. He can't take it, he slides to the floor, putting his hands over his ears as the hallways shrink on him and the screams get louder.

When Minghao looks back up, he sees a door approaching him. It's made of wood, and he knows Jun's behind it. He can feel it. He has to reach him. Minghao's waiting for the door to reach him, but then he hears another blood curdling scream. Underneath the door he sees the light break, as if someone's walked past. Minghao can't take anymore of this, and runs straight for the door, smashing it open. The wood doesn't budge, so he tries harder. It's starting to evade him, so he tries one last time and finally, the door hinges break, opening it until he's standing in the room.

When he looks up he sees nothing. No jun. There's nothing in the room and the screams around the house have stopped. The hallway is back to normal. Minghao realises Jun was never there, and in disarray, he falls to the floor second time, tears coming out of his eyes. He doesn't know where anyone is, or if they're being hurt. And Minghao can't do anything about it.

As he's sobbing, he hears running foot steps approach him, but he's too exhausted to look up. Suddenly, he hears Seungcheol call his name, but doesn't turn around, afraid to see he's going delusional. That's when Seungcheol helps pick him up, and he realises he's not alone. Seungcheol is here with him. He throws himself on Seungcheol, hugging him as tight as he can. When Seungcheol pulls back, he notices a bracelet on Minghao's wrist, same as his only his charm looks like one half of yin and yang.

The boys suddenly fall on the floor, as the house once against abruptly shakes, the floor beneath them shifting. Minghao's afraid they'll be separated again, so he clings tighter onto Seungcheol, however there's no need. The house stops shaking and the two stand up, confused. That's when they hear the house speak.

**Wonwoo, Welcome.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next member is Wonwoo. The object is a drug. You have a choice of blur, dizziness or headaches  
> Blur - worst for time, best for injuries  
> Dizzy - worst for injuries, best for concentration  
> Headache - worst for concentration, best for time
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Monday 15th Jan 2018 KST


	3. Wonwoo

The house shakes around Wonwoo and suddenly he finds himself alone. In a room.

**Wonwoo, Welcome.**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour.**

**The time is 3rd hour.**

**The task is Efficiency.**

**Good Luck.**

Wonwoo's looking around, but all he sees is a bottle with a note. On the note it says,

**_Drink me to advance._ **

Wonwoo, still airy from the house shaking, drinks the bottle, only to be met with pain.

The pain subsides and Wonwoo's left feeling quite dizzy, when he hears a big clunk on the side of the room. Suddenly, not sure if it's the drug or reality, Wonwoo feels himself moving closer to the wall on the opposite side, and he hears gears spinning. He drops to the floor, losing balance. He can hear a faint call of his name, but he doesn't know which way it's from.

**Tick Tock Tick Tock**

**Can you focus and beat the clock?**

He tries to regain his balance by placing his hands in front of him, however he finds something on the floor. A piece of metal, shaped like a gear. He stands up, room still spinning, and sees the wall on the opposite side glow. There are 5 missing spots, all in the shape of a gear. Wonwoo thinks he knows what to do with the gear, so he stumbles up to the wall and places it in the first one he sees. The piece locks in and he realises that he has to find all the rest of the pieces.

He goes to work finding them, however the dizziness does not help. He's smashing into the walls and flailing around the room, trying to get anywhere, all while the floor seems to be moving underneath him. He grabs something on the table, knocking the contents onto the floor, and heads back to the wall, pushing another gear into place. The gear however is spat back out at him, and the floor moves faster, now acting like a conveyor belt. He starts to panic, as the opposite wall is getting closer too, leaving less room for Wonwoo to move, but he finds the correct spot for the gear. He realises he can't mess up, or else the walls will only close in faster.

He spends a fair time walking around the room, just trying to find these missing gears as fast as he can. He eventually finds the last piece, and with a lot of stumbling around, puts it in. The gear clicks in and the wall opens up, to reveal a small vial which reads "Drink me."

He takes a sip, not caring for now, and suddenly everything's cleared up. He's no longer dizzy, however he is sore from staggering around the room, so he falls on the floor.

Seungcheol and Minghao knock down the door, coming in to pick Wonwoo up. He reaches up to them, feeling slightly better knowing they're here. He faintly hears them talking about a bracelet, which Wonwoo has too. His charm shows half a crown.

If Wonwoo hadn't of known any better, he'd thought that the drug was making the house shake, however it's only when he realises Seungcheol and Minghao are feeling the same thing when he knows it isn't. They all fall on the… grass?

They're suddenly outside on the wet grass, and who other can they see, but Joshua, standing on a platform 15 metres above them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next member is Joshua. The object is an obstacle. The choices are balloons, swinging axe, tightrope  
> Balloons - worst for agility , best for injuries  
> Swinging axe - worst for injuries, best for time  
> Tightrope - worst for time, best for agility
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Tuesday 16th Jan 2018 KST


	4. Joshua

The house shakes around him as he tries to grip onto something, failing. He falls down onto the wood and feels a chill down his spine. It's awfully windy in the house…

That's when he realises, he's not in the house anymore. He's outside, standing on a platform. He's about to step down when he sees just how high he is from the ground, and he partially freaks out, before hearing some noise. He can see Seungcheol, Joshua and Wonwoo on the ground some distance away, but it's them alright.

He's standing up there, not knowing what to do, so he calls down to them. They tell him he has to finish a task, which confuses Joshua, until he hears a sound.

**Joshua, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth hour**

**The time is 7th hour**

**The task is Nimbleness**

**Good Luck**

Before he knows it, a course like pathway appears in front of him. The bridge dangerously sways in the wind, and Joshua's not sure he can do it. There's no safety net below him. The boys yell at him to push on, saying it'll only be worse if he doesn't finish it before the time is up, so he gets to work.

He holds onto the hand rails as tight as he can, leaping from one rung to the other. He makes it almost all the way when he slips, his hands only just catching him. He can hear the silence from his friends, but he needs to get back to them, so he relies on his hands to pull him back up. It's only the first bridge done, and he's already exhausted, but from fear of falling to his death, he surges on.

There's many slips and falls, which are freaking him out. Every time he misses a step by even the tiniest bit, he panics thinking it'll be his last. This course is not doing well for him. He finally gets to the last leg, his arms sore and his legs trembling. Which is not a good sign, as there is only a single rope connecting from his platform to the end. It's pulled tight, he can see because it's not swinging in the wind. That doesn't make it any better, as Joshua's erratic breathing makes it hard for him to concentrate and control himself. He can hear the boys down below, and takes a breath.

He can do this. He blocks out the wind, blocks out the boys, and blocks out his fear. Deep breath. He can feel his tense body relax as he wills himself to have faith. When he's confident enough, he takes his first step onto the rope.

He has to keep reminding himself to block everything out, or else he'll lose concentration. He takes another step, one after the other, so far so good. He's half way across when he places his footing wrong, and his foot slips off. He pulls back immediately, leaning onto his back leg, and replacing his foot, this time cautiously. He proceeds with caution, and finally finds himself nearly done.

He steps off the last platform, which is magically level with the ground, and rushes to his members, who rush around him. They help pick him up, although all the boys are exerted, and help drag him over closer to the house.

They ask if he's ok and point to an object on his wrist. A bracelet with a puzzle piece attached to it. Interesting.

The ground around the boys shakes, as pieces of soil fling in all directions and suddenly nowhere, for they are back inside the house. They're sitting in a room when a shimmery image appears in front of them, showing coffins. Millions of them. And one lone figure sitting on the closest one.

Soonyoung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next member is Soonyoung. The object is a Coffins. The choices are lids, shovel or skeletons.  
> Lids - worst for time, best for strength  
> Shovel - worst for strength, best for rational thinking  
> Skeletons - worst for rational thinking, best for time
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Wednesday 17th Jan 2018 KST


	5. Soonyoung

The last thing Soonyoung remembers is the house shaking, and then he's sitting on something hard. He stands up to see coffins, handfuls of coffins, surrounding him.

**Soonyoung, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 10th hour**

**The task is Deeper**

**Good Luck**

He turns around but the coffins are all he can see, until a faint shimmer in the distance shows up. Soonyoung runs towards it and with a smile, sees his members, well some of them, waving behind it. As he gets closer though, his smile falters. He can't seem to get closer, and he can't hear them either. All he can see is them pointing to their wrists, as if showing something.

Oh wait, they are showing something. They all have a bracelet on, supposedly from the people that left them here, however Soonyoung notices he doesn't have one. He looks around, wondering if he's lost it, but a dark bracelet would stand out among the white floor.

That's when he hears a coffin. Yes, hears a coffin. One coffin in the middle of them all seems to shake, chilling Soonyoung to the bone. And that's when he thinks he knows his task.

Deeper you say? He has to dig deeper to find his own bracelet. He's confident about that. The only problem is, there's too many coffins for Soonyoung to count. How is he supposed to find it?

He gets to it anyways. There's no shovel or anything lying around, so he doesn't know how to dig, but he'll get to that when he figurres out which one to dig. He looks around and just settles on the one closest to him, as it may take him all day to find it.

He opens the lid and three skeletons rises up from the soil, freaking Soonyoung out. They lean towards him as Soonyoung readily backs away, but before getting too close, they look at him pointedly, tilting their heads at him and… cackling, face emotionless except for their mouth. Their voices echo around him, and the sound unsettles him. The skeletons opens their mouth and recites a poem, slow and terrifyingly deep, shaking his own bones.

**Soonyoung poor Soonyoung**  
**Trapped here with rest**  
**However I'm sure you know**  
**You're replaceable, at best**

Replaceable? That's been one of his fears, being replaceable. He doesn't just want to be another member, he wants to know he's irreplaceable. But somehow, the words of the skeletons coming out of their mouth like that reaches his heart.

He doesn't want to hear more so he closes the lid on them and tries the next one. However, more skeletons come out, and the exact same thing happens.

**Soonyoung poor Soonyoung**  
**You're from the ground above**  
**However did someone ever tell you**  
**That you're incapable to love**

He shuts the lid again and runs away. At this rate, he'll never find his charm. He tries a coffin way away from the previous two, but the same thing happens.

**Soonyoung poor Soonyoung**  
**You're pulling out your hair**  
**Why is that? Is it you**  
**Trying to look for someone to care**

And again.

**Soonyoung poor Soonyoung**  
**Heart confident, rock hard**  
**But when you look deeper**  
**Is it just a façade?**

And again.

**Soonyoung poor Soonyoung**  
**You've been told your place**  
**But don't worry, I'll make sure**  
**You're just another face**

He doesn't know how long he can take this. With each wrong choice he makes, another of his insecurities show up. They're damaging him, and Soonyoung can't re-mend himself much longer.

He stops. Stops his breath. Calms it down. He needs to think, there must be another way then to keep digging, there has to be a million coffins now, it seems as he digs one up, it's replaced by another one.

That's when he thinks he realises his true challenge. He steps, fearfully, up to the one closest to him, and opens the lid. Out comes three skeletons and in the same manner they talk to him.

**Soonyoung poor Soonyoung**  
**You're starting to choke**  
**Is it because you've realised**  
**You're only a joke?**

Only this time, he doesn't shut the lid. He looks straight into the soulless eyes of the skeletons, tears making their way up as screams to their face.

"I AM NOT A JOKE. I AM NOT REPLACEABLE, I AM NOT UNLOVED, AND I AM NOT WEAK."

And with that, the skeletons sinks through the soil of the coffin.

And Soonyoung sinks to the floor. But he can't stop now, he has to dig.

Drained, he reaches into the soil to dig to the bottom of the coffin. As soon as he puts his hand in though, he pulls it out in pain. Something has cut him, and it's caused a small cut to form. He examines the cut, but it isn't too bad, so he digs again. Again, he gets cut. He should really find another way out of this….

But no. He doesn't. He needs to get that bracelet, and he feels it's right here. So he digs faster and deeper. As he digs, more cuts show up on his hands, blood pouring out right now. But he can't stop, how else is he going to reach his friends. He's holding back tears right now as the pain of soil getting in his open wounds stings.

He keeps persisting, cuts showing up and soil sticking to the blood on Soonyoung's hands, but finally a small, bracelet like, object reaches his hand. He pulls it out triumphantly and holds it in the air despite blood gushing down his arm, although he can't see where the members have gone. He carefully pulls the bracelet over his hand, blood dripping from both, and as it lays on his wrist, the whole room shimmers, causing his friends to now stand before him.

They scurry around him, saying they heard everything but couldn't see after he had opened the first coffin. He told them what happened and they all hugged him, moving Soonyoung to tears. Then they all see his wounds, as his hands are now stained red and black. They agree Soonyoung should wash up, but really, they all just want to get out…

That's when he gets a good look at his charm. It's half a music note, a ti-ti, or just a ti to be precise. The other members are trying to see if there's any way to help Soonyoung when the ground shakes, and the settings have changed.

They sit in a plain white room. Nothing on the walls except a single window showing a room just like theirs. And inside, looking around as if he can't see through the window, is Seungkwan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next member is Seungkwan. The object is a hallucination. The choices are animals, walls, members.  
> Animals - worst for awareness, Best for control  
> Walls - Worst for control, Best for processing  
> Members - Worst for processing, Best for awareness
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Thursday 18th Jan 2018 KST


	6. Seungkwan

The house around him shook, as he's thrown sideways. He hits something and slumps to the ground, only to open his eyes to a completely different scenery. The shaking has stopped, but what replaces it is more bizarre.

He's in a brightly lit room, white walls, white ceiling and a white floor. There seems to be no entrance, and no windows. A sealed box.

He looks around when he hears something.

**Seungkwan, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 11th hour**

**The task is Imagination**

**Good Luck**

The boys outside hear it too, and they notice Seungkwan can't see or hear them. They've tried hitting on the window and screaming his name, but nothing is working. He looks lost after the announcement, so they only wait to see what happens to him. And suddenly, his eyes grow wide.

Seungkwan sees Vernon suddenly in the room with him. He rushes over to hug him, glad he's not alone, but they need to find everyone else. However that happiness is short lived, for Vernon looks down at him with no acknowledgement, instead he seems to be questioning Seungkwan.

"Who are you?"

Seungkwan reels back. Surely Vernon's joking though, so he protests saying it's him, Seungkwan, however Vernon doesn't seem to recall him at all. Even after Seungkwan saying the joke isn't funny. No, it seems Vernon has completely forgotten who Seungkwan is. Seungkwan hears Vernon call Jeonghan's name and rush over to a suddenly appeared Jeonghan.

Seungkwan also rushes over, hoping to earn some recognition from him, but Jeonghan just looks at him in the same matter, and that's when Seungkwan knows it's real. For Vernon wouldn't have had the time to tell Jeonghan about his joke. Another member walks from behind Seungkwan to Jeonghan and Vernon, and Seungkwan can tell from behind that it's Jihoon.

None of them even slightly recall who he is. He's starting to fret, when they all walk past him, screaming for Chan who is standing behind Seungkwan. He's pushed over in their attempts to get to Chan, and Seungkwan sits on the floor hearing them lovingly appreciate Chan while he's being forgotten.

He then realises something. The room he's boxed in has no entry, not that he can see. So how come his members keeps showing up? Unless…

Seungkwan focuses on his breathing, and tries to calm himself down. With his eyes closed, he feels like he's only sitting there alone. He opens his eyes, and suddenly the box is empty again. He thought so.

His task was imagination, so something was making him imagine all these hallucinations. He was right.

Suddenly, a sound is made and a door appears behind him, to which he instantly hears people calling his name.

The members can no longer see through the window, it turned black after Seungkwan closed his eyes, so now they're all screaming out his name, when Seungkwan comes around the corner. They all sigh in relief and flood up to him, all pointing to something on his wrist, which he somehow hadn't noticed. On his wrist is a new bracelet, with half a broken heart. He also notices Soonyoung's hands, which are still covered in blood, and he seems to be wincing in pain. They need to do something for his hands soon.

Soon after the revelation, Seungkwan and the others feel the house shaking, just like first time. The other members seem ready for it, but he isn't. They're all thrown to the floor, the same matter as before. When it stops, everyone turns to hear the crackling of static on a tv screen.

Sitting in a chair with a single table in front, a figure leaning on the table. Minghao's eyes widen, as he sees Jun unharmed, but not moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next member is Jun. The object is a Puzzle. The choices are Members, Numbers or Titles.  
> Members - ?  
> Numbers - ?  
> Titles - ?  
> Hint: Pick an option you DON'T want :)
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Friday 19th Jan 2018 KST


	7. Junhui

The house was once shaking, and then Jun felt a chair underneath him. Lights blinded him as he leant forward, a table stopping him from falling completely on the floor. He stays there for a few moments, disoriented from the events and slowly catches his breath. A bit later, he lifts his head and examines the table, noticing there's 12 round disks, each displaying a different picture. An intercom crackles.

**Junhui, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 6th hour**

**The task is Accuracy**

**Good Luck**

Jun studies each disk carefully. The one closest to him pictures a simple box, the next shows a tree, then what seems to be a rope bridge, a fish, a hallway, a skeleton, a desk, a mannequin, a flask, a sound symbol, a maze, and lastly a digital clock.

He feels a heat sensation on his wrist, and goes to grab for it when he sees a new bracelet adorning his wrist. He touches the charm, and all of a sudden, his head is flooded with noise. Not just noise. Minghao's voice. What…

He looks down at his charm, half of yin and yang, and touches it again, and experiences the same feeling.

"Jun?"

"Minghao?"

He can hear Minghao, as if he's standing right next to him. Outside, looking on a tv, is Minghao, jumping for joy and telling the members that he can communicate with Jun. They crowd around, wondering if they can hear, but Minghao says he can only do it when they're both touching the charm he has on his bracelet. He can see Jun touching it right now, so to prove to the members he can, he tells Jun to walk around the table, which he of course does. Jun takes his bracelet off, realising he can only talk while touching the charm, and holds the charm to keep the connection.

Minghao recounts Jun on what has happened so far, to which Jun then describes what's in front of him. He relays the pictures to Minghao, who then asks what the task is. Accuracy… To Minghao, it makes no sense. He gets Jun to repeat the pictures, which Minghao then repeats to the members. Jun then has a thought, which he tells Minghao to ask the others.

"Ok guys, Jun had an idea. There's 12 disks on the table, and when we were together, there was only 12 of us. I don't know where Seok is, I only hope he's safe, but Jun thinks that maybe the pictures relate to our tasks…"

Jun jumps back as more wooden disks materialise on the desk. Minghao tells the others that both random words and their names have appeared on the desk, but then Jun realises something. On one of the disks is the word accuracy.

"Minghao, the random words are the names of our tasks. Ask around for everyone's task name."

Jun matches the current members to their task names, and then moves on to matching them to the pictures. Joshua then points out that his would be the rope bridge. Minghao repeats the pictures one by one and they figure out Seungcheol as the tree, Wonwoo as the flask, Seungkwan as the box, Soonyoung as the skeleton and Minghao as the hallway. The images left are a fish, a desk, a mannequin, a sound symbol, a maze and a digital clock. Jun figures out that since the only remote object in his presence is a desk, that must be his. So, using elimination, Jun has figured out Jihoon, Mingyu, Jeonghan, Chan and Vernon must be sorted between the remaining symbols and task names.

A fish

A mannequin

A sound symbol

A maze

A digital clock

Expertise

Creativity

Intuition

Hearing

Teamwork

He has no idea.

Minghao then tells him that a riddle's popped up over the screen and he reads it out to him.

**Maybe one could use intuition and height**   
**To see over walls of endless turns**   
**Another needs expertise to be precise**   
**On bombs that tick, threatening to burn**   
**The youngest in need lies quite unconscious**   
**Just like his "friends", the mannequins**   
**The last one needs his hearing back**   
**To match one sound to where it begins**

**The last one, creativity, you can figure that now**   
**One last one, and you're free to go out**

Jun knows who is who now. He matches up Mingyu with the maze and intuition, Jihoon with the digital clock and expertise, Chan with the mannequins and teamwork, and Vernon with the sound symbol and hearing, leaving Jeonghan with the fish and creativity.

Suddenly, he hears a click, and a door opens. He walks out relieved, expecting to see his members, but he can't. He touches his charm again, and Minghao's also confused. He can't see the screen and Jun can't see them. But he can hear them all, so he walks a bit further down the corridor to a door which light seeps through, and grabs the handle.

He opens it and is welcomed to silence, before Minghao runs to him, followed by the rest. They don't have much to talk about, as they told everything to Jun while he was in the room, however Minghao and Jun's wrist seem to attract to each other. Before they think about it, they connect their charms, and a small flash of light is shown, before revealing the boys new charms. Two whole circles of yin and yang.

"Jun, I feel smarter."

"You don't look it."

But they're right. The charms, when connected, strengthens each others traits, giving one to the other. They tell this to the others, who seem to doubt them at first, however wait in hope for the next member to prove if this is true. By now, the members are all sitting on the floor, waiting for the house to shake. And when it does, they all find themselves in a room.

Well, half a room. The other half is unreachable by glass. Before the members even see who the next member is they know, as the other half has bombs everywhere.

It's Jihoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next member is Jihoon. The object is a bomb. The choices are Air, Fire and Water.  
> Air - worst for awareness, best for concentration  
> Fire - worst for composure, best for awareness  
> Water - Worst for concentration, best for composure
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Saturday 20th Jan 2018 KST


	8. Jihoon

The house shakes around him as he sees his members staggering, and then nothing. Oh wait, no he sees them. He sees most of them anyways, hidden behind a panel of glass, separating only him from them.

And next to himself he sees bombs. A lot of them.

**Jihoon, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 2nd hour**

**The task is Expertise**

**Good Luck**

He can of course see his friends, but despite their over the top actions, he can't hear them. The only way of communication is through body language. His eyes see a flash of red and immediately land on Soonyoung, which is good because he's pointing to Jihoon's bracelet, making him aware of his charm, which is the other half of Soonyoung's music note, and touching it means he's able to talk with Soonyoung. However, it's bad because now all he can do is worry about him.

Soonyoung tells him everything that's happened so far and assures Jihoon that he's fine, even though that's all he keeps thinking about, but Soonyoung tells him to get on with his task.

Little does anyone know, a hatch is opened, and someone looks down at the members.

At the same time, Jihoon hears something break the silence. Multiple bombs are ticking down at once, making it hard to concentrate. Jihoon starts panicking, however Soonyoung calms him down. He reassures him that there's a way to pass this, he just has to calm down.

Jihoon agrees and calms down before approaching the first bomb, but before he gets to work, Soonyoung stops him.

"Jihoon, stop! Don't diffuse it yet."��Jihoon's puzzled, before Soonyoung tells him his idea. Well, Jun's, who's certain that there's a certain pattern he has to diffuse the bombs in, because from where they are, they can see two bombs. And they have different times on them.

"You need to hurry. There's got to be one bomb that's closer to exploding then the rest."

Jihoon runs around, checking the bombs. At this point he's worried, because he doesn't know when he'll pass the bomb he's looking for. Instead, he has an idea. He carefully grabs the bombs that are closer to exploding and places them all in the middle, finding the one that has the least time, with 2 minutes left.

Jihoon goes to open it up, seeing if he can diffuse it. He's seen this in movies before, you cut a wire and it's done, however he doesn't think it's that simple. And it's not, because written inside is an inscription.

**I'm the first one**   
**Of 15 to diffuse**   
**The order of us**   
**You get to choose**

**Many wires in me**   
**Touch one and you fail**   
**Other than blue of course**   
**Which is how you prevail**

**Cut the right one**   
**So you won't say goodbye**   
**But mess up this task**   
**And all your friends die**

He needs to cut the blue one without touching any others or else both him and his friends die. Great. He's worried, Soonyoung can tell, so Soonyoung starts calming him down. Soonyoung tells Jihoon that he always looked up to him, and that he's the only one who can do this.

Soonyoung gives him confidence, so he gets to work, finding a pair of embroidery scissors, perfect for the job. Jihoon makes his way around the wires, making sure he doesn't touch any other than the blue. When he gets to the blue, he makes a quick snip, and the ticking in front of him stops. 14 left.

He finds the next closest one, only one minute left on it. He gets straight to work, doing the same as he did before. He cuts it, and moves onto the next one, only horror coming to his face, as he sees it on 1 second.

Or not, because the next time Jihoon opens his eyes, the clock's counting down from 2 minutes. Maybe his eyes were just tricking him, but he can't stop at that. Soonyoung calls over to him, saying he should hurry up because the members are smelling something funny. He quickens the pace, getting more confident and in the zone with each progressing bomb he diffuses.

Finally, he's down to the last bomb. Seungcheol spots the open hatch above them and immediately realises what the smell is. He tells everyone to cover their mouths while Jihoon diffuses the last bomb, because gas has been filling up their side of the room, and he's not sure how fatal it is. Jihoon cuts the wire, and immediately the glass between the members and him dissipates. He hears the cheers of his members clearly now, and runs to them exhausted from stress, however they all run to the opposite side of the room, weary of the hatch on their side. Soonyoung lifts his wrist to Jihoon's, and their charms connect, creating full music notes for the both of them.

The others agree, they think what happened to Jun, Minghao, Jihoon and Soonyoung will happen to all of them. Which means, from now on they can all communicate with another member, helping them through their task. This is great news to them, as they're wondering who's next. They're all anxiously waiting on the floor, covering their mouths, when the house shakes, Jihoon immediately going to Soonyoung to protect his hands. The shaking stops and they're all again in another room.

They look around, a bit confused and lowering their hands from their mouths. There's no tv, or glass, or connecting room to look into, but Seungkwan's suddenly pulled to the floor by his charm, and beckons the others to look down.

And through the now translucent floor, they see a sitting figure from bird's eye view. Vernon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next member is Vernon. The object is sounds. The choices are A, B or C.  
> A - worst for time, best for concentration  
> B - worst for communication, best for time  
> C - worst for concentration, best for communication 
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Sunday 21st Jan 2018 KST


	9. Vernon

The last thing Vernon remembers hearing is the house, shaking. He finds himself in the dark. Well, not really, but his visions blurred enough that it's dark. Slowly, his vision is opening up to see he's in a white room, but he still can't see well. It's like something took away his sight.

And hearing ability, because all he can hear is white noise. Although, that may be from the headphones that are somehow over his ears. He doesn't remember putting them on…

He also doesn't remember this bracelet on his wrist, showing half a broken heart.

**Hansol, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 5th hour**

**The task is Hearing**

**Good Luck**

From above on a glass ceiling, Seungkwan sees Vernon touching his charm, so he takes initiative, seeing theirs matching.

"Vernon!"

"What the…"

Seungkwan explains all the previous tasks to Vernon, and Vernon explains how he can barely see or hear anything, except for Seungkwan which he can clearly hear. Suddenly, Vernon winces and Seungkwan hears him mentally screaming.

Seungkwan can only ask him what's wrong, as he isn't experiencing anything Vernon is. It seems each task is for one person only.

Vernon notices two things at once. One, there are different coloured blurs now appearing on what seems to be the wall in front of him, and two, through the headphones he has on, he can hear the screeching of something he doesn't know.

He starts panicking, not knowing what's going on, but Seungkwan calms Vernon down, explaining things about the house which make no sense, and that he just needs to finish the task as soon as he can. But it's hard, because Seungkwan's not the one listening to the screams.

Vernon understands that he needs to match the sound. But to what?

That's when Seungkwan tells him about the buttons on the walls. So that's what the flashes are… He tells Seungkwan he can't actually see them, except the colours, but Seungkwan says he can see both the icons and the colours, all Vernon needs to do is tell him the sound.

The screeching subsides and is left with a single sound and more white noise. Vernon concentrates and makes out a muffled… squeak?

"Seungkwan, is a mouse or rat one of the icons?"

Seungkwan guides Vernon to the button, making sure the colour matches, and tells Vernon to push it. The button sinks into the wall and the flash no longer appears. The sound is morphs, changing into what sounds like a howl. He asks Seungkwan about a dog, but there is none, however there is a wolf. Vernon goes to that one and pushes it down, the button sinking into the wall again. He repeats this without a hitch three more times, until finally, he matches the last sound to it's owner, and leans back on the wall. He hears faint thuds as he sees blurs around him. Oh no…

But that's when his vision and hearing clears up and the headphones disappear, and he realises his members are around him. He's so thankful to see them, bounces up and runs to them. That's when Seungkwan comes up and links their charms, showing new full hearts attached to their bracelets. Seungkwan explains about the charms and telepathic links to Vernon, which makes sense now as to why he could hear Seungkwan well despite his slight loss of hearing.

Everyone feels the shake of the house coming on and immediately sit on the ground. When it's finished, they're all back in a normal room with nothing but a table in it. No sight of a new member. They're a bit confused, until Minghao points out that there's a maze on the table, which Jun remembers was linked to Mingyu. They then start searching for him, but they can't see him.

That's when Wonwoo is unwillingly dragged by his wrist to the table, and makes a discovery. There, in the middle of the small maze on the table, is an even smaller moving figure. And he can tell, Mingyu is inside the maze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next member is Mingyu. The object is the Maze. The choices are animals, doors and vines.  
> Animals - worst for rational thinking, best for strength  
> Doors - worst for awareness, best for rational thinking  
> Vines - worst for strength, best for awareness
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Monday 22nd Jan 2018 KST


	10. Chapter 10

The house shakes, and Mingyu feels a chill as he falls to the floor. He's no longer in the house, as far as he can see. Which is not far, because around him stands endlessly tall walls that, when he tries following them up, seem to reach the clouds.

He looks around and he knows what it looks like. He's in a maze.

**Mingyu, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 9th hour**

**The task is Intuition**

**Good Luck**

Intuition. Fantastic. He tries seeing if there's any indication as to where the exit is, but every path looks the same. And there's a problem, because he's not entirely sure he's alone in this maze…

From above, the others stare down at him. Wonwoo's holding his charm on the off chance that Mingyu touches his. Mingyu, in the maze, has only just realised the bracelet on his wrist. He fondles with it, not knowing where it came from, and hears a faint name. His name.

"Mingyu, if you can hear me please answer…"

What? He grips the charm, half a crown, more firmly, and hears it again. It's Wonwoo.

He answers him, to which Wonwoo tells the other members. He relays to Mingyu everything that has happened and tells him they can see him in the maze above. Mingyu looks up but he can still only see clouds. Oh well.

Wonwoo starts guiding him around, heading for an exit that appears to be south of where he was facing, and Mingyu trusts him with all his heart.

Wonwoo continues guiding him until he stops talking, and Mingyu's running slows down. He asks what's wrong, and Wonwoo tells him that the bottom of the board has suddenly changed, the part where Mingyu is right now. The paths have changed, there are small figures appearing and even more frightening, there seems to be mist covering the small part of that section where Mingyu is about to head into. Wonwoo tells him that he only had a couple more turns to go, but now he's not sure due to the changes.

Mingyu knows he still has to get to the exit, and fast. Only a couple turns? Mingyu focuses, knowing that the exit had to be the direction he's currently facing, but in front of him right now is a blank wall. He waits for a moment, and then decides to go left.

He doesn't wait to see what happens, he instead sprints down the lane. He runs past the now darker walls, and turns to the right, sprinting faster. If he can't make it out in time, what happens to him? He can't think of it, so he just runs faster.

That's when he trips, however he doesn't think much about it, gets back up and starts again. It's only the next time when he realises something is making him trip. There, protruding from the walls, are growing vines, working their way towards him. He sees the vines now growing from every direction, and is afraid he made the wrong decision, but he just gets up and runs. The vines grab at him, slowing him down as he turns left again, but he just pushes past them. He gets to another intersection. Left or right?

He decides to go right, because right must be right, right?

He turns and he's relieved. Right was right, for he sees the exit up ahead. He runs straight for it, slashing away the vines and not caring for anything, and he reaches it only to start screaming. He didn't think about what would be at the exit, and apparently there was nothing, so Mingyu was currently falling. The others see this, and Wonwoo's hand immediately shoots out, but there's no need, for mid fall, Mingyu turn back into his giant self, and Wonwoo's poor hand is now under his foot.

"Ow get off."

"Sorry!"

He steps off and is greeted by everyone, although Jihoon's grumbling about wanting him to stay that small forever. They've now got 10 out of 13 members, and they're excited. They're getting there. Mingyu and Wonwoo link charms, and both find full silver crowns on their bracelets.

Everyone just sits down in an uneven circle, not much to talk about considering they've been getting really good at explaining everything by now. The house shakes as expected, and they're all sitting in chairs. Well, trapped in chairs, plastic boards in front of them blocking most of their view, and surrounding a container. With Jeonghan inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i forgot to post this yesterday woops


	11. Chapter 11

The house shakes around Jeonghan, and he's on the floor. He doesn't know where he is, but he knows he's inside a glass container, various objects in front of him, and he can see 10 of his members around him, trapped in chairs. Although, there are boards in front of their faces, blocking most of their view, however he can still see past them.

**Jeonghan, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 4th hour**

**The task is Creativity**

**Good Luck**

He looks around, and he can see the members mouths moving, but he can't hear them through the glass. That's when he sees Joshua frantically trying to get his attention from his chair. Joshua nods his head to his hand, showing a small puzzle piece attached to a bracelet. Jeonghan notices the same on his own wrist, and goes to look at it, initiating communication with Joshua.

Joshua tells him to keep holding the charm to talk to him, and tells him about all the tasks so far, but before he can get that far, Joshua stops talking.

Outside, the members are all talking, until Seungkwan points out that a word has appeared on his board. The word 'out' is now flashing on Seungkwan's screen. The boys don't know what it means, until another voice speaks up, and Seungcheol says the word 'water' is on his. Then Soonyoung says 'fish' is on his, and Jun tells them 'of' is on his. They wait for more, but no more come. Jun then gets them to repeat the words, and realises they're a scrambled version of the phrase 'fish out of water', although, they don't know what that means.

Joshua tells this to Jeonghan, and he immediately knows, for there has been a fish swimming in a tank the whole time he's been in there. His task is creativity, and he thinks he knows what he has to do…

He takes a small net and scoops out the fish, placing it next to the tank, sorry for hurting it. The fish eventually stops moving, then disappears. The words on the members screens also disappear.

The next words are 'pod' 'a' 'peas' and 'in', which is pretty easy for Jeonghan, he takes out all the peas except for two in a pod, and waits. The pod and words all disappear. He then waits for the next words, which are 'dry' and 'bone'. In front of Jeonghan, a skeleton appears dripping in what seems to be… blood?

Jeonghan's apprehensive about this, but he goes to find a towel and dries the skeleton. It's producing a putrid smell, but Jeonghan bares it. He eventually finishes towelling it down, and waits for it to disappear, along with the stench.

New words replace the previous. 'feet' and 'cold', which Jeonghan assumes must be cold feet. How does he do that…

He looks around, not seeing much, however he does spot a bucket in the corner. Inside is ice, and Jeonghan thinks this must be part of the task, but he has no idea where are the feet. Until an idea comes to his head and he starts taking his shoes off.

"Jeonghan what are you doing?"

He dips his feet in, eventually standing in the bucket of freezing ice water. He stays there, shivering from the temperature, until the bucket and the ice water disappear, leaving Jeonghan with incredibly cold feet.

He puts his shoes back on and stands up to see the glass has disappeared, and Jeonghan thinks his task is over, when Joshua stops him. Another word has just appeared on his board. 'Excuse'.

Bit by bit, the other members are getting words on theirs. 'while' 'this' 'me' 'guy' 'I' and 'kiss'. Jeonghan's stumped, but Jun gets it and shouts it out. 'Excuse me while I kiss this guy.' Jeonghan's confused, but Joshua points it out to him.

"You have to kiss someone Han."

Jeonghan's not sure who to kiss, so he just walks to the closest, Soonyoung, and pecks his cheek. They wait around for a while, but nothing happens, so Jun suggests kissing everyone.

Jeonghan goes around, giving each member a peck on the cheek, but the same thing happens. Absolutely nothing.

"I'm not sure this is…"

"It has to be." Joshua points out. "Maybe it needs to be… more?"

Jeonghan's now standing next to Joshua, wanting to question, but he knows what he means. So, Jeonghan leans down and kisses Joshua on the lips, lingering for just a second before pulling away. Suddenly, all the members chairs loosen, and they are no longer trapped. Jeonghan, embarassed and blushing, helps Joshua out of his seat and they link charms. As they connect, they gather around Jeonghan and Joshua, and all go to sit down when the house shakes.

And that's the last contact they have. For after the house shakes, they all find themselves in separate rooms, only having a window on-looking another members room. Except Mingyu, who's window is black.

But they all hear the same thing.

**Chan, Welcome**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last member is Chan. The object is, but not related to, Mannequins. The choices are drip, fan and weight.  
> Drip - worst for injuries, best for injuries  
> Fan - worst for time, best for time  
> Weight - worst for suspense, best for suspense
> 
> if you want to participate or vote please do, as the votes sway the outcome of the game, just join Carat Amino and search up my username @Gyu | Maki's Mine | Hiatus  
> ends 5pm Wednesday 24th Jan 2018 KST


	12. Chan

**Chan, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 12th hour**

**The task is Teamwork**

**Good Luck**

Everyone hears the task, but say nothing. That's when the mannequins appear.

In each room, 12 mannequins stand alike, a difference only by which member stands in that room. In Seungcheol's room, there's 12 members excluding himself, however through his joint window with Jihoon, he can see 12 mannequins, including himself and excluding Jihoon.

In every room the same happens, and each member can only see one other, but they can only talk to their links. Jun grabs a piece of paper and a pen from a desk in the corner and starts communicating with Minghao, asking who he can see.

From the start, Jun can see Jeonghan, and can talk to Minghao, who can see Wonwoo. Jun puts a piece of paper on the window, asking Jeonghan who Joshua can see, to which he mouths Seungkwan. Jun writes their positions on paper, and tells Jeonghan to tell Joshua to tell Seungkwan to ask Vernon who he can see, and whoever that person is to ask their link and so on. Eventually, all the members have been sorted into a chain, which Jun has on a piece of paper looking like this.

SC->WZ--SY<->VN--SK<->JS--JH<->JN--MH<->WW--MG

However, he doesn't know what happened to Mingyu's window, but he has a good feeling that Dino's behind it.

Suddenly, all the mannequins in every room start speaking, and the boys are in chaos. After the initial shock, the message has gotten across from Seungcheol that they need to relax and figure out what the task is, although Soonyoung's hands are starting to hurt more now. Seungcheol listens to his mannequins speak, and realise there are certain words that fit together in a sentence. He manages to put together the sentence "Why don't you figure this one out? I'll let you guess who", but after that, there's no more mannequins to give him words. He writes it down anyways and gets his message to Jun, who's already written down his sentence, "smiles, I saw through everything. You probably don't know who I am" and has communicated with Minghao to get the his part "you'll figure it out. To finish this task, you have to act".

They work as a team, writing and solving in links to come up with the answer, pieces of paper rapidly being used and pushed against the windows. Jihoon's the next to get his sentence, and after telling the others it's part of a paragraph, they start to get the hang of it too. Jun gathers all the sentences, making sure to put the sentence along with the members name, as it might be important. He tries putting them together by order of the chain, but that doesn't work, so then he tries order they were found, which still doesn't work. Jun knows that Mingyu's sentence goes after Minghao's, as the end of his and the start of Mingyu's match up to make "you'll have to act as a team."

He asks Minghao what hour he was, and asks him to ask Mingyu the same question. Jun hears that Minghao is 8 and Mingyu is 9, and it flicks. Jun asks for the number hours of all the members, and it isn't long before Jun finally gets the whole paragraph together.

That's when Minghao alerts him. Further down the line, Mingyu's window has brightened up, to reveal Chan. But not just him.

Behind him stands a fan, with gyrating blades, all looking sharp. Mingyu says the fan seems to be getting closer to Chan, however the problem is that Chan seems to be asleep, or unconscious. This doesn't help the fact that no one can get to him, or that there's a fan edging closer to cut him up.

Jun's worried, so he reads the paragraph to make sense of the ordeal.

"Why don’t you figure this one out? I’ll let you guess who I am. Actually, no, I’ll leave that for later. However I do applaud you. If you’re hearing this right now, it means you are worthy of something. But you are not worthy of me. You left me, all of you. I saw it, I saw through your fake smiles, I saw through everything. You probably don’t know who I am, so I’ll keep it that way. Maybe, if you care enough, then you’ll figure it out. To finish this task, you have to act as a team. Although, not all of you are here, so it will be hard. But I mean, you acted as a team without me. Once you’re done, say this out loud to save your friend."

Mingyu tells him the blades seem closer, but they're not near Chan, giving them time. He doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger. Jun does what the task says, and the house shakes again, alerting everyone that he got it.

And they're back, all in the living room together, just as in the start. Chan is also awake, leaning on a supportive Seungcheol, and all go to catch him up on the news. They look at his charm, a lock, and immediately know his link is Seungcheol, but before they can link, they hear it for the last time.

 

**Seungcheol, welcome**


	13. Seokmin

**Seungcheol, Welcome**

**You have entered The Thirteenth Hour**

**The time is 1st hour**

**The task is Leadership**

**Good Luck**

They all stand there, mouths open and looking around. They don't know if this is part of the game or not, but they're all together, back at square one. First they were stuck in separate rooms, all listening to mannequins talk, and now they're in Seungcheol's hour again.

They all look at Seungcheol, but he's looking at them just as confused.

"Maybe it has something to do with the passage?" Jun suggests they think about what was said, he still has the piece of paper with the passage on it. "Maybe we need to figure out who it is. Or help Seungcheol with his task?"

"Or maybe we need to figure out how to escape." Seungkwan comes in. Jun protests that they've been doing that the whole game, but Seungkwan hushes him. "My task, it was something unworldly, and I'm sure some of your tasks were too. Something that couldn't happen in real life, Soonyoung can skeletons actually talk? And can Mingyu really shrink and grow in front of our eyes? Of course not!" They all look at him, agreeing with him. "What I'm saying is, in my task, I knew it wasn't real, so I imagined it away, and it went away. I'm not saying it's a definite, but…" Seungkwan closes his eyes.

And then Seungkwan is no more. Not even a flash or a shimmer to suggest he was leaving, but the room was suddenly as if Seungkwan had never been there. He just left. The members are stunned, but immediately follow after him, seeing what happens. They all find themselves disappearing, except Jun, who's stayed behind for a bit, rereading the passage. There's something off…

When Jun disappears too, he wakes up in a round room, half strapped to a chair with something hovering over his head, tickling his ears. He wriggles out and joins his members, who seem to be walking around the room staring at a massive contraption in the middle of the room.

There's 12 chairs surrounding the contraption, and 12 arms extend out, holding what looks like a hairdryer over each chair, probably the thing that was tickling his ears. They all wonder what it is, when laughter echoes the room. Not just any laughter. Seokmin's.

**Game Over.**

**The Thirteenth Hour is up.**

**And you still haven't figured everything out.**

The boys look at each other frantically. They all know that's Seokmin's voice, but could he ever really do that to them? Some of them start calling him out, telling him they know it's him. There's another laugh, followed by a short riddle.

**You think about who I am**   
**Only because you wonder**   
**However, you'll only find the answer**   
**In the message lying under**

**You think about who I am**   
**But it's the tasks on which you should dwell**   
**For if thought about carefully**   
**The answer is what it spells**

Again, the boys are stumped, looking around at anyone who may know it. That's when Jun speaks up.

"I knew it."

The members all look at him, dumbfounded.

"I was suspicious of something when Seokmin didn't appear in my task, I had thought something had happened to him. When we got here I was almost tricked, but I know I was right. Something did happen to Seokmin."��"Jun what are you-"��He shushes Minghao and continues. "If someone is smart enough to build a contraption like this, they can easily build something to control a naïve brain. We all know Seokmin, he's not someone who would do this. He's reliable. However, in saying that, it means someone's still at fault. Someone who thought playing the game as a competitor would mean no suspicion, someone who could have ears outside due to Seokmin while being in the game themselves."

Everyone's on edge, listening to every word Jun is saying. Except one person. And Jun knows, because they already know everything he's saying. Because they're the one that couldn't fool him.

"I know who it is… do you?"

QUESTION: Who is the mastermind behind it all? Throughout the whole of The Thirteenth Hour, there have been multiple clues, even in the profiles and rules. It's now your turn to find out what Jun knows. There's one big clue however, laced throughout the story. Find that clue, and you'll definitely have your culprit.


	14. Chapter 14

A child being neglected by their friends is never good. A child being neglected by the ones who are meant to define the word love, their parents, is psychologically sickening.

A boy has been neglected by everything he knows. His parents don't want him. Friends? He doesn't know of the word. It's not his fault, it's life. Deemed to be a sociopath for the rest of his life, it wasn't until he met a boy. A certain boy by the name of Seokmin. Seokmin took the boy under his wing and introduced him to his other 11 friends. The boy picked up behaviours and how to act so he felt as normal as a sociopath could.

However, sociopaths can still think, so they can also notice when they're the odd one out. Every boy in that group, including the nice Seokmin, had a close friend. The boy, being the thirteenth and the odd member, had none of the sort. He didn't know what it was like to have a close friend, and for once, the sociopath believed he wasn't sociopath. Because he felt something.

Anger.

One day, the boy is bored, and comes up with a plan. The next few months, the boy puts together a machine unheard by anyone else. It connects people's unconscious, and can control them. He creates a side project, merely for an extra touch of entertainment, and sets his plan up.

The boy then sets up a trip and drugs his "friends", and, with great effort, gets them all connected to the chairs, except one, to which he connects to the side project. After pressing play, he goes down and straps himself in, waiting for the most thrilling entertainment he has had in his poor, emotionless life…

***

The members are still all looking at Jun, wondering what he'll say.

"All the tasks had names right? Seungcheol, what was your tasks name?"

"Leadership."

"Minghao?"

"Devotion."

Jun continues to ask everyone, in order of when they joined the group. "Leadership, Devotion, Efficiency, Nimbleness, Deeper, Imagination, Accuracy, Expertise, Hearing, Intuition, Creativity, Teamwork. Now, why would anyone waste time on giving tasks names?"

Seungkwan points out, "To give an indication as to what the task is about."

"Not wrong, but they could easily say that. I was thinking there was something off with that, and it wasn't confirmed until the riddle we just heard. What were your hours?" They look at him, confused. "Everyone had an hour, mine was 6th, what was yours?"

The room has turned into a mess of chatter, and he's surprised no one's noticed the one member, standing quietly at the back, onlooking the outcome of the situation. He calms everyone down and asks for the first hour to call out their task, on with the second, third and so on.

"Do you see? It's in the tasks, however we couldn't possibly know because we've been mixed up the whole time. There's a reason why we were all trapped in certain hour loops."

Jun lines everyone up and walks past them, pointing at them as he says a phrase.

"1st hour, Leadership."

"2nd hour, Expertise."

"3rd hour, Efficiency."

"4th hour, Creativity."

"5th hour, Hearing."

"6th hour, Accuracy."

"7th hour, Nimbleness."

"8th hour, Devotion."

"9th hour, Intuition."

"10th hour, Deeper."

"11th hour, Imagination."

"and finally, 12th hour." Jun pauses as he looks down, "Teamwork."��Soonyoung raises a hand in question, "Sorry Jun, but I still don't get what you're trying to say." Jun nods, and asks everyone to say the first letter of their task in hour order. They protest at first, but Jun tells them to listen to what it spells.

Jun sees at different times during the spelling when it's flicked in the members heads. They're eyes widen, or their brow tucks in, but ultimately they've all gotten the message by the time it reaches the last letter. Which is left unsaid, because everyone's busy staring at Chan.

Jun walks up to him, standing in front. "Why Chan. I thought we were your friends."

"Thought. I know how you guys act with each other. You all have close friends. I have no one."

"We can change that."��"No you can't. And frankly, I don't care. I have no emotion to care. I did this because I was bored. But don't worry, you gave me enough entertainment." Chan looks empty as he stares into Jun's eyes. And they continue to look empty as he steps out, and walks out the door of the room. They all follow, but as they exit the room they get distracted hearing a groaning Seokmin. They go over to help him, the machine turning off after being put down, and ask if he's ok. He is, he only had a weird dream about being a house, but they all shoo it away, telling him he's silly. They're just glad to be in the real world, all stepping outside into the sun as soon as they can.

Chan is nowhere to be seen. The boys all split up searching for him, but he's evaded them. Maybe he'll come back, maybe not, however they all know Chan won't be starting anymore drama like that to them. They continue calling for Chan, but he's either not heard them, or doesn't want to respond. Either way, Chan is far off from the boys, and they're stuck in the middle of nowhere, but it's alright. Because they're together. Mostly…

***

Thank you for reading The Thirteenth Hour!!

Many Many thanks and credits go to my friends, but also thanks to my little sister who was the one to start it all (literally I go to her for ideas little kids have the best ideas try it)

Many thanks also go to you guys who read it, especially those who stayed with it!!

A lot of research was put into the ideas of this, but other than that all the writing and choices were by me, I only got help on the ideas for the tasks and the horrible horrible backstory I was suppose to put Chan through. A lot of changes were made from the very start until now and I'm glad, for the original would have never been as good or interesting as this one.

DISCLAIMER ALL THE BOYS ARE PRECIOUS AND DESERVE ALL OF OUR LOVE PLEASE GO COMMENT ON THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA TO LOVE THEMSELVES BECAUSE THEY DESERVE IT!!

The End.


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